Riverbank It management

Last week Microsoft slipped their 'browser choice' into Windows updates. It was forced upon Microsoft by the EU as part of the settlement of a long-running legal dispute. It has created very little excitement in the business community but here for the sake of completeness is the Riverbank line on the matter.

Riverbank's recommendation is to stick with Internet Explorer for the following reasons:

1. Internet Explorer is not a bad product. It works ok.
2. Internet Explorer integrates very well with other Microsoft products such as SharePoint. If you are using SharePoint, stick with Internet Explorer.
3. We've all got better things to do than experiment with browsers, such as making our businesses a success. Changing browsers is unlikely to impact on your bottom line.

Add your comment if you disagree with our view. It would be interesting to know that there is some excitement around the choice of web browser.

Microsoft announced its Office 2010 Technology Guarantee last Friday, 5 March. If you buy Microsoft Office 2007, with or without a computer, at any time up to 30 September you are now entitled to a free upgrade to Office 2010. The upgrade period starts when  Office 2010 is launched in June and will run until 31 October. 

The offer applies to fully-packaged products and to Office pre-installed on new computers. It does not apply to volume licence purchases. 

If you would like more information please contact Chris Jones, Business Development Manager.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at a brilliant clean tech symposium hosted by VenCap. Lots of very interesting people there, from venture capital people from around the globe to CEOs of spin-out companies and 'about to be spun out' companies from Oxford University.

One clear message was that there is investment money out there and clean tech is seen as a great place to invest.

A second message was that clean tech is a way of thinking, not a market sector. One speaker said that "If you’re not clean you’re dead." The speed at which government policies are changing around the globe and the shift in consumer demand means that we all need to have businesses that are clean and green.

Thirty two Riverbank clients use inexpensive software called Exclaimer to make sure they add an e-mail disclaimer to every e-mail and ensure they comply with the requirements of the Companies Act. They also have the opportunity to add a marketing message to every outbound e-mail.

If your company uses Exclaimer you need to be sure that you are taking advantage of this ability to promote your business. It could be anything from “Winner of the south-east technology award 2010” to “Find out about our new product launch at www.etc”.

If your company uses Exchange as its central e-mail database and you don’t have Exclaimer you should get it. You should get it because you need to know that your company is legal and you should get it because you need to take every opportunity you can to go for growth.

If your business is going to grow in a flat market (let’s be optimistic about the wider economy) you have to do so by winning market share. That means taking business from your competitors. To do that you have to be better than them. You also have to communicate your message to your potential customers.

What underpins your success at attracting that new business is your systems – the way you run your business. Here are seven ways that IT can contribute to your success.

1. You have to be more efficient and get more results for less effort. Without a doubt one of the most effective tools you can use is CRM software – Customer Relationship Management. CRM software enables you to store the intelligence (call back in six months, birthday is 15 May, etc). It also enables you to track your successes and your failures so you can establish what works and what doesn’t.

The hype around cloud computing could be reaching a peak, but are companies actually doing it? Many large firms are apparently holding back from making a drastic change to their IT systems, preferring to wait until others have gone before them and made their mistakes. Many smaller businesses are hesitant about committing their entire business to a single Internet connection. They are also worried about the security of trusting their intellectual property in an environment where they feel they have little or no control.

But fortune favours the bold, so should you be brave and take the plunge into cloud computing? Are you even sure what it is or what it's supposed to do for your businesss?

Cloud computing is the first of the Riverbank lunchtime workshops for 2010. If you would like to understand what lies behind the hype, what it can and can't do for your business, and whether now is the time to be brave then come along to "Cloud computing -  what's in it for me?" on Tuesday 30 March. Contact Amber Juffkins to reserve your place.

Dell have a 0% finance deal on offer for server purchases. The finance deal can include software and Riverbank services, but must have a total price of at least £10,000 to qualify. The offer runs until the end of April.

 Contact Chris Jones for more information.

The Sophos Security Report for 2010 has some thought-provoking predictions for 2010. One is the impact of cloud computing. As more data is stored on the web so the security threats will migrate to those sites and the individual desktop computer will become less important. Before you commit your data to a web-based system you might want to know how good your supplier's security protection is. If a major data store did suffer a security breach the impact could be enormous.

More worrying on a global scale is the arrival what Sophos calls a third phase of security threats. The first phase was the hobby virus writer whose interest in writing such stuff usually ended when they found a girlfriend. The second phase was the arrival of organised criminality out to sell fake goods, get access to your bank account or steal your identity. A new third phase is happening at government level with attacks aimed at getting commercial, military or political gains.

As individuals and businesses all we can do is to make sure that we protect all aspects of our computer usage including personal computers, servers and mobile devices like iPhones, BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile phones.

Cloud computing is the topic of the moment, with servers and their applications metamorphosing into web-based services. But will all businesses want to join this rush to the cloud?

The evidence so far is that for individual professionals and micro-businesses cloud computing has irresistible attractions - you don't need to buy any expensive hardware or software, and someone else manages everything for you.

Larger companies feel the same attraction, but for many it is diminished by other factors. They need to know where their data is and who has access to it. The demands of their clients might place greater constraints on their ability to entrust the care of their data to unknown people and organisations.

Enter the private cloud. In the world of the private cloud a company has its own infrastructure based in the cloud. They get the benefit of global access to their systems but they also know exactly where their data is and who has access to it. In addition they still get the benefits of scalability, flexibility and no capital costs.

Thank you to everyone who visited our exhibition stand and entered our prize draw at Genesis 2009, the London biotech showcase event. We hope the event was as useful and successful for you as it was for us.

The winner of the Riverbank iPod will be announced on 21 December.

We look forward to seeing you again at Genesis 2010.